A Soul In Need
by RedFox dude
Summary: (The story was redone.) After witnessing a pre-teen fox lose the only family he had left, Judy makes the radical decision of adopting him into hers and Nicks apartment. (Some wildxhopps.) (Zootopia and it's characters are owned by Disney. Original characters belong to me.)
1. Ch0-prologue

Zootopia: the city of possibilities, opportunities, and bright futures. It's where a mammal can be anything they want to be. Of coarse, a place so grand had to have had its indecencies. Just 10 months ago, the city nearly tore itself apart, (figuratively and quite perhaps literally too depending on how you look at it) because of, the previously unknown, Bellwether conspiracy. They were ultimately arrested by an unlikely duo, that nobody saw coming: a con-mammal fox and a cop bunny.

Skip to today, the former-con-now-rookie cop (Nick Wilde), became partners with the bunny cop (named Judy Hopps) and were hailed as local hero's of the city. However, as the weeks and months went on, the crime rate would be so low, there was barely any actual crimes, apart from the occasional mammal breaking the speed limit. In fact, that's what Nick and Judy were doing right now.

* * *

A/n: I forgot to upload this first -_-


	2. Ch1 - Accident

_2016, September 2_

_Savannah Central, Zootopia_

_10:23 AM_

Judy's eyes were glued to the road, paying attention to both the drivers passing by as well as looking at the dashboard-mounted radar gun/speed gun to see how fast the drivers are going, in case they were speeding. She had been doing this for more than 2 hours now and so far and so far no one had broken the speed limit.

Her ears started twitching at the sound of snoring. Her partners snores. Judy looked to her right to find Nick fast asleep with his aviator sunglasses slowly starting to fall to the side. Judy rolled her eyes as she sighed. It was starting to become a habit for Nick to fall asleep when they were waiting for speeders or for dispatch to relay something to all officers that something was amiss.

Judy knew that she should cut Nick some slack since there wasn't a lot of crime as of late, but that was no reason to take a nap since a crime could take place at anytime. Judy decided to end the fox's dreams and wake him up. "Hey, wake up!", Judy whispered in Nicks ear.

"10 more minutes please...", the canid groaned.

"You said that 3 times already!"

"Well I'm sorry fluff, but we foxes need 10 hours of sleep. So if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna make a deal with the *sandmammal." Nick said whilst getting as close to comfortable as he could in his seat so he could fall back asleep.

Judy sighed as she turned her gaze back to the road. "Wilde. You. Are. A mess.", she pouted.

Nick turned his head to the bunny with his signature grin and playfully said: "You know you love me."

Judy cocked her head to the side as she turned back to her partner. "Do I know that? Yes. Yes I do.", she playfully responded with a smirk on her face.

Suddenly, their police-issued radio started receiving a transmission. "Attention all units in Savannah Central, we have a possible 10-31 in progress at the Savannah Central bank on 58th Bellrock Avenue. Move in and intercept." said dispatch.

"Wait, that's not far from here!", Judy said a little giddy. This would be the first chance of action she had in a long while. She took the opportunity to tease her now-groaning partner. "Don't think for a second that you're sleeping through this one Wilde!", Judy said as she grabbed the radio on the dashboard. "10-4. This is officer Hopps and Wilde, we're moving in to intercept." Judy said to dispatch.

"Copy that officer Hopps. All nearby units will be on standby in case you need backup.", said dispatch. In three seconds, the police cruiser rolled out of the alleyway and raced down the road with sirens blaring. Soon, Judy and Nick arrived at 58th Bellrock Avenue, then saw 3 medium-sized mammals with ski-masks exit the bank with 3 bags (of what's very likely cash), get into a white van, then drove off in the opposite direction the officers arrived from. Judy and Nick looked at each other before quickly giving chase.

"This is officer Hopps and Wilde," Nick quickly relayed to dispatch, "we arrived at the scene to find suspects get into an unmarked white van and we are currently in pursuit! The van is going NE of 58th Bellrock Avenue."

"10-4. This is officer Fangmeyer and Wolford. We are following suit to provide support." said officer Fangmeyer.

The bunny and fox soon pulled up to the right side of the van. Once they were next to the robbers, Nick rolled down his window and pulled out a megaphone. "Pull over the vehicle now!", he yelled at the thieves through the megaphone. The van started to move leftward. "Wait, are they actually pulling over?", Nick exclaimed in surprise. The van abruptly jerked to the right.

Judy's eyes widened in realization. "They're gonna ram us!", she yelled. Not hesitating, she slammed the brakes making the cruiser slow down with its tires screeching just as the van missed its target by a mere foot. The vans extra momentum started to make it swerve everywhere, ignoring the red light, right onto an intersection...

...and crashed into a civilian vehicle that was emerging from the left.

"Sweet cheese and crackers! Nick, call in medical attention and let Clawhauser know what happened! I'm going to see if they're alright!" Judy called out as she jumped out of the now fully stopped cruiser to survey the wreckage. Nick wasted no time calling in an ambulance, as well as letting dispatch (Clawhauser) know that there's been an accident at the intersection of 58th Bellrock Avenue and 4th Pattington lane.

As Nick was doing this, Judy was went to the wreck to survey the damage. The van was hit from its left side, being dented and bent inwards. The civilian vehicle, which looked like a medium-sized blue sedan, had its front end crushed inwards and had 2 bloodied foxes halfway in and halfway out of the now-smashed windshield. The foxes were overladen with cuts, bruises, and gashes all over their bodies, possibly from launching through the windshield. Plus, they weren't moving so that meant either of 2 things: the first being that they lost consciousness or second...

...Judy's face visibly grew pale at the thought and hoped that wasn't the case.

She checked the fox that was in the drivers seat for a heartbeat. None. Judy's vision started to ge clouded from the tears in her eyes. She prayed to anyone that could hear her that the other fox, which she now realized was a vixen, was still alive. Judy put her ear against the vixens chest to find a pulse...

...There was none.

Her face started breaking out tears as she started crying with her ears behind her head. In her mind it was her fault all because she was tired of sitting around. Her thoughts raced with 'what if's: different scenarios resulting from different actions Judy could have taken. It was all. Her. Fault.

She had been at this for what seemed like millennia and at this point, she was at her knees with her face wet with tears.

Then the sound of groaning reached Judy's sensitive ears before perking upwards. She started to power through her tears so that focus on where the groaning was coming from. It sounded like it was coming from the back of the car. Quickly, she raced to one of the backseat doors, opened it, and peered inside to see what was making that sound.

The source... was another fox. Except this one was different from the ones in the front seat. The fox looked to be male, but was perhaps shorter than Nick yet slightly taller than Judy, so he could definitely be younger than Nick. The foxes fur color was more red than the ones in front, although it could be from blood. His body was a bit scrawny, and was currently restrained with a seatbelt, but definitely wasn't spared from harm, hinted with a bruises here and there along with a few cuts. But all in all, he was in better shape than the foxes in the front seat.

Judy put her ear against the tods chest... and heard shallow breaths and a faint heartbeat. Judy felt her heart rise from her chest and into her throat. But she needed to focus though, she needed to clean the fox's wounds, then stop the bleeding and wait until paramedics arrive.

_2016, September 2_

_ZPD, Precinct 1 _

_2:47 PM_

Eventually, Officers Wolford and Fangmeyer arrived on the scene and helped arrest and detain the bank robbers, 1 of the 3 had to be taken to the hospital due to minor injuries, before serving jail time. The young tod, that Judy had helped given first aid to, was also taken off by the ambulance. Judy couldn't help but worry for the tod as he may have lost his parents, (if they even were his parents). Nick noticed her ears drooping as they typed out their report on the bank robbery earlier today.

Nick decided to break the ice. "Hey carrots, how are you doing?", the fox asked. The bunny's ears drooped lower as her typing slowed. Nick felt bad for his partner. He could tell she was still upset from the accident. When they went back to the cruiser so the could go back to the precinct, Nick noticed her amethyst eyes were a little red as well as her face being damp. He had asked Judy what was wrong, then Judy told him that she saw her first bodies today. He had then told her that when he was still living on the streets, it took him weeks to get some decent sleep and that her mourning was natural. At the time, she understood where he was coming from, that she would eventually get over it.

But this time it was different. Her face made it look like she had broken a vase or something expensive and now feels bad about it. "_Why would she feel bad_?", thought to himself. Then he understood why. "This is about the kid isn't it," Nick deduced.

The bunny started to talk but didn't face her partner. "I just can't help but feel bad for him! I mean, you've seen the casualty side on the report of that accident. Those 2 foxes were the parents of that kid! He doesn't even have other relatives to stay with Nick!"

Nick raised his paws in reassurance. "Ok!Ok!", nick said defensively, "Ok, I know you're upset fluff, but what can you do about it anyway?" Her upset expression was replaced by an expression of deep thought. "Here," the fox continued, "how about, this weekend, we go visit the kid?"

Judy's eyes widen in surprise. "Wait, how would we get to the room he's staying in? I thought only relatives or family members are allowed to visit patients.", the doe asked.

The ex-con gave the bunny his signature grin. "C'mon carrots, did you forget already? I've said that I know everyone, and I know a guy who can smuggle us into the kid's room," the fox implored.

"You mean you 'used' to know everyone," Judy fired back, " You're an officer of the law remember? You can get in serious trouble if someone catches you doing something illegal."

"Don't worry," Nick reassured Judy, "I won't pull any strings, I promise! I'm on good terms with this guy, and I'm positive he'll do us a solid for nothing in return."

"I still don't know about this Nick..."

"C'mon, don't you trust me?"

There was a pause.

Judy sighed. "Yes, Nick. I trust you."

"See? That wasn't so hard now was it?"

"I hate that you used my trust in you against me though," Judy huffed.

"Dumb bunny."

"Sly fox."

There was another moment of silence. Judy spoke again.

"Hey."

"Hm?"

"Why are you doing this for me?"

"Well, I thought that visiting the kid-"

"No, no, I mean, what's your motive for doing this?"

"Well... I guess it just bugged me seeing you down like that."

"Oh, uh... that's very sweet of you for caring about me. Thank you," Judy slightly blushed.

"Not a problem."

*Zootopia's version of the sandman(the guy who makes you fall asleep/dream)


	3. Ch2 - Apology

_2016, September 3_

_Zootopia General_

_9:52 AM_

Tim couldn't remember much of what happened yesterday. All he remembered was that his parents were fighting in the car, then everything went black. As starts to come to, the first thing he notices is that he wasn't alone in the room. In fact, it sounded like 2 other mammals were in the room, because he could hear them talking. The voices were fazed out, so Tim could barely hear what they were saying.

"...awake yet?", Tim heard a male voice say.

"...-ot yet." a feminine voice responded.

"...-ong... think he's g-...out for?"

Silence.

"...all my fault. If I hadn't...his parents wouldn't-"

"Hey!...-ing you could done."

"_My parents?_", Tim thought to himself, "_What happened to my parents!?_"

Tim wanted to... -needed to get up. With all the strength he could muster, he willed his body to brush off his fatigue and get up. As he did so, he started to regain feeling in his body parts, some of it was pain, but he bared it as he opened his eyes.

"Hey, he's coming to!", the male stranger pointed out.

Tim grunted slightly from the pain in his body and from the bright light shinning in his sensitive eyes. They slowly adjusted enough to get his bearings. Right now, he was sitting-up on a bed with white sheets with Tim's arms proving him upright. He was wearing a teal gown with wires, that lead to monitors, on his chest, what Tim assumed was an iv tube (since it was attached to a bag with clear fluids inside) in his wrist, and his underwear. There were also bandages in various places that wrapped around his body. The room he was in was teal-ish white, almost like... a doctors office.

"_Were we in an accident_?", Tim thought. If he and his parents were in an accident, it would explain why he blacked out and woke up with these bandages...

...he wondered if his mom survived.

The female voice he heard from before, spoke to him.

"Hey carrot cake.", she said in a soft, sing-song tone.

Tim looked to his right and saw who was talking to him.

There was a bunny sitting on the edge of the bed adjacent to him. She wore an unbuttoned pink flannel with a grey shirt underneath. She also had a grey pair of pants on. Her most defining feature was her lavender-colored eyes. Tim thought she was pretty. "Uh -Hey,uh...," Tim started still waking up, "w-what's going on? Who are you?"

"My name is Judy Hopps. You may have heard of me before on the news," the bunny responded. "As for what's going on? Well, I'll let Nick take take over."

A fox then suddenly appeared from behind the bunny, and walked over to the left side of Tim's bed. The fox clearly wasn't his dad, since this one has a leaner build than his father. He wore a green pawaiian shirt with an orange tie and had a pair of khaki shorts. The strange fox's smirk would have almost made Tim think he was a international spy or something. "Well then Mr... 'Zoloman' was it?", the fox named Nick asked, "We have good news and bad news. The good news is that you get to check out of here in no time! The bad news though..."

He suddenly became serious. Tim was starting to worry.

"... is that your pregnant."

Tims expression of worry swiftly changed into one of confusion.

Judy glared at Nick as he laughed like a joker.

"Hahaha! The look on his f-ahaha!" the fox managed to say before having another laughing fit.

Tim started to join Nick in laughter.

"Hahaheh! C'mon miss Hopps," Tim defended Nick, "I thought it was kind of funny."

Judy just gagged on her words for a second before huffing and face palming herself.

Nick was now out of breath from laughing so hard, so he took a moment or 2 to fully calm down.

"In all seriousness though," Nick said in a calm manor, "you'll make a full recovery by Monday."

"That's great!", Tim commented. Then he remembered his parents were in the accident too and not just him. "Wait, what about my parents? Are they ok?"

The bunny and fox looked at each other with grim expressions before looking back at Tim.

"Want me to say it Judy?", Nick asked delicately.

Judy's ears went up for a second before they relaxed.

"No," Judy replied to Nick, "I'll say it."

"Say what?", Tim said. The way their tones sounded when he brought up the question about his parents safety was a worrying one.

"Tim," Judy began with watery eyes, "the truth is is that me and Nick were the first officers on the scene of the accident. We were in the middle of chasing some bad guys in a car chase when it happened. These bad guys were the ones who crashed into your car. I went to check to see if they were ok, but... _but_... *_sniffle_*"

Tim was more confused than sad. If his parents were killed, then why did she bother coming all the way here just to say that?

"_So she was the first one on the scene, but why is she here_?" Tim thought.

...

"_There ware tears in her eyes. This isn't some apology that's scripted by the ZPD. She's genuinely sorry! If it was official ZPD business, then they should at least be in uniform, no? It must have been eating her from the inside-out, so that's why she's here._", Tim realized in his head.

Tim snapped back to reality as when he realized that Judy was on her side, her head on his lap facing him, crying.

"*_sniffle_*, I really am just a d-dumb bunny! *_sob_*," she sobbed out.

"_She doesn't need to suffer this_," Tim thought, his eyes becoming watery too.

Tim picked up Judy by her sides.

"T-Tim, wha-"

Judy couldn't finish her sentence when Tim hugged her. After a couple seconds, Judy, hesitantly hugged the younger fox back. After she hugged back, all her boxed-up feelings just came pouring out. They stayed like this for what felt like hours. Judy crying up a waterfall that made Tim's shoulder wet, while he just gently rubbed her back.

Eventually, Judy's sobs receded into sniffles.

"I don't understand *_sniffle_*," she croaked out.

Tim's voice was unsteady as he spoke.

"You obviously show a lot of compassion for how I ended up in this situation. I can respect that. You were just doing your job. There was no way You could have known that those bad guys would crash. It's not your fault, so please stop crying," Tim implored as a stray tear ran down his cheek.

"Ok. *_sniffle_* Ok..."


	4. Ch3 - Revelations

_2016, September 3_

_Downtown Zootopia, Packwood flats_

_7:02 PM_

Nick was a little surprised when that the younger fox, Tim, had forgiven Judy so easily. Then again, Tim couldn't have given a better response than hugging her. Nick had never seen her partner cry so much. Probably since she had confronted him under his bridge and poured her heart out to him, in the form of an apology.

About 30 minutes of Judy crying later, she and Tim were still hugging, except now they were doing so in near silence (Judy kept sniffling) while Tim was gently rubbing her back. Seeing this in front of Nick, it warmed his heart that the bunny was being comforted by the kid. Indeed, Nick cared about her partner a lot. In fact, just lately, he's been starting to feel something... more towards her. In fact, he wanted to join in on the hug, but he didn't because he felt that if he intervened, the moment would be ruined.

Instead, he spoke up. "Ahem," Nick cleared his throat.

Judy turned her head to look at Nick. The fox then tapped at an imaginary watch on his wrist a couple times, indicating that they needed to go before the nurse comes back to check on Tim. The bunny's ears drooped a little before she hesitantly nodded, clearly not wanting to leave yet. She broke away from the hug, got off Tim's bed, then turned back to face him.

"We got to go cottontail," she said Sadly. "I wish we could stay bit longer."

"Oh," Tim responded, "ok then."

Judy stood there for a moment, before heading to Nick as they went out the door.

"Wait!"

Judy turned around, ears erect.

"Thank you for visiting me. It was nice of you to do that."

Judy gave a smiled sadly before exiting the door.

There isn't much that happened after Nick and Judy's visit with the young Tod. They exited the hospital then took the subway back to their apartment. A few months prior, the pair came up with the idea that if they pooled their money together, they could get an apartment that was decent. And wouldn't you know it, because a few weeks later, they had found a place in downtown Zootopia. An apartment in a complex named Packwood flats. It was certainly an upgrade from Judy's old apartment. She had at first come to love that apartment for its oddity's when she came to Zootopia, but after a while, she could see why the apartment was so cheap. It wasn't until the night Judy had finally moved out of her old apartment, now living as Nick's roommate, she could actually sleep without having to hear someone through the walls.

The apartment The cop duo-lived in had 5 rooms. When you'd enter the apartment, you would enter into the Living room. The living room had an HD tv, a wooden coffee table, a carpeted floor, and a brown couch that faced the tv, behind the coffee table. On the other side of the living room, opposite the apartment entrance, there was a doorway that connected the living room to the kitchen. The kitchen itself was decent. It had tiled flooring, an oven, which Judy never had in her apartment, and a pantry for dry/canned goods. Right side of the living room, where you would enter the apartment, would be a hallway that lead to a closet, a bathroom, and 2 bedrooms.

Nick was currently in the kitchen, prepping popcorn so that he and Judy can snack on something while they watched Avengammals: Endgame. He had noticed Judy was down at the dumps after their surprise visit for an unfortunate Tim Zolomond, and afterwords, she went straight to her room hasn't come out since lunch or dinner. Both times, her eyes were glistening . Seeing this, Nick thought that maybe having a movie night, like they usually have, would cheer her up. He was also planning that this could be his chance to become closer to the the bunny, since they weren't allowed to fraternise with each other. Yes, Nick knew this was selfish, but wasn't really sure what else to do for the bunny.

Nick has now finished prepping movie night. He had two bowls of popcorn: one is buttered and salted for Nick; the other was plain and just for Judy. All he had to do now was to convince the troubled doe to come out of her room. Nick soon found himself standing in front of the door that led to her room.

Nick knocked 3 times before saying, "Hey fluff, I got some popcorn ready and a movie we can watch together. Care to come to movie night tonight?"

The only response given was a scream.

Nick rushed through the door to see if she was ok. He then saw Judy sitting up straight, crying her eyes out. "Hey, hey, hey, hey," Nick said rapidly as he went over to her bed, "are you ok?"

The bunny's only response was more crying.

Crawling into bed with the bawling doe, Nick softly put his arms around her, while Judy immediately pulled the fox into a tight hug. They stayed hugging each other. Judy lured her tears into Nicks chest, while he lightly scratched her neck. 27 minutes later, Judy's sobs were reduced to sniffles. Awhile after, Nick was the first one to talk.

"Do you want to talk about it?", Nick played dumb, knowing what this could be about.

Judy was starting to cry again, but then Nick soothed her. "Shshshshshshsh. It's ok, it's ok. You're ok," Nick soothed.

Nick had managed to save the bunny from further tears, but he could tell her sadness hadn't disapated yet.

After a few moments, the bunny started talking to the tod, in a partially-cracked voice, without looking at him. "I saw them Nick. Tim's parents," Judy said as her voice cracked, " They said that it's my fault. **_sniffle_** That I turned Tim into an orphan. And I can't do anything about-"

"Hey now," Nick said softly, "none of it is your fault.

"**_sniff_** Do you really think so?", Judy asked pitifully.

"Of course I do. You did the best you could in a bad situation, and frankly... it's good enough for me," Nick reassured Judy as he hugged her frame tighter to his body.

A few minutes pass and finally, Judy manages to pull herself together. Nicks words seemed to have calmed the emotional bunny.

"I just don't understand though," she absently said.

"Understand what?", Nick replied.

"I mean, how could something so horrible happen to someone so... so-"

"Innocent? Young?", the fox cutter in.

"Yeah, exactly. No one should lose their parents."

"Yeah well," Nick started, his voice growing tender, "while life can give you great things to you... it can also hurt you."

Judy went to look up at Nick, as in she rarely heard him talk in such a soft tone. She saw that his expression, along with his voice, was tender. His emerald looked like they were fixed on something that was nonexistent.

"He's thinking about the trauma from his ranger scout incident," Judy realised. Nick had told her about his bad experience with ranger scouts when she had met him, hours a few days prior. How life had told him that he couldn't be anything BUT an untrustworthy liar. How his 'comrades' had told him that predators like him couldn't be trusted without a muzzle. At the time, she had felt bad for him, and she was able to relate to him about being nothing else except what people tell you to be.

Judy reverted her mind back to the main subject. "I just wish there's something we can do," she said.

"Well," Nick started, snapping back to reality, "there's always adoption for him."

"Huh?"

"Now that the kid has no relatives and is no longer needed to stay at the hospital," Nick explained, "he now has to be sent to the orphanage until, either he's going to college, or someone adopts him."

Judy let this settle in before coming to terms on her options. That she could either stand by and _hope_ that the young fox gets adopted by someone nice, or she could adopt Tim herself. This could be her overthinking it, but she didn't like the idea of Tim getting abused by either other children, or by what should be his adoptive parents. And it certainty didn't help knowing that he could spend a good chunk of his life without something to call family.

Judy decided to go with the latter.

"Then that's what we'll do," Judy decided.

"What now?" Nick questioned.

"I'll be the one to adopt him."

The tods ears flew up in surprise. "Uhh... not to be a downer carrots, but are you sure about this? I mean, what you're wanting is a tall order."

They were still in Judy's room on her bed. Except now they broke their embrace and faced each other.

"I know it's a long-shot, but... I need to do this-"

"-to help you forgive yourself?" Nick assumed, interrupting the doe. Even though the sly fox hadn't known Judy for a full year, he still managed to tell what she felt after getting spend time with her. Even though she was definitely NOT your average, every-day bunny rabbit, she was still somewhat readable.

Judy looked down and sighed before confirming Nick's guess with a nod.

Nick was quiet for a moment as he thought about what to say next. He hated to see Judy beat herself up over this. He's only ever seen her sad once, and that time was when she went to the bridge Nick was hanging out under, and apologized to him for breaking his trust. He knew Judy wasn't one to back down on decisions, but he wasn't really sure if she was going to be comfortable with two predators in her home. Both of which would be foxes. But above all, there was one question, in Nick's mind, that he wanted an answer to.

"Well," Nick started, "if this is what you want to do, I'll support you the entire way. But first, I want to ask you something."

"Hm," Judy nodded.

"Have you figured out where he'll sleep while living here?"

The bunny's ears folded backwards on her skull.

"I...-I didn't think I'd get this far," Judy admitted.

Nick chuckled a little. "Dumb bunny."

"Sly fox."

If Tim was going to live here, then he needs somewhere to sleep. Nick could sleep on the couch and Tim can take his bed, but Judy wouldn't stand for it. Judy could sleep on the couch and Tim can take her bed, but then Nick wouldn't let the bunny do that. Neither one of them could sleep on the couch without one standing in the way of the other, so only one option stood left.

Moments of silence passed before Nick spoke again.

"Maybe we could... never mind."

"What? What are you thinking slick?" Judy probed.

Nick paused before speaking.

"We could share a bed together while Tim takes the other."

Judy's ears stood on end and her face blushed red.

"I mean- we aren't-," Nick stuttered, trying to stop Judy think that he was being suggestive.

"I'm not saying we... _you know_. Just that sleep in the same bed. But with no _touching_!" Nick finally spat out after flustering.

Judy's mind raced a million miles/kilometers an hour with thoughts. "_Sleep with a predictor? A _fox _for that matter!? What would mom think? But it's Nick! He'd never _hurt _me! But I don't want to ruin our friendship by making him uncomfortable. He suggested it so maybe it's fine? Plus, I don't know if I want to be alone tonight after having that nightmare. What if I have another one that's way worse! That way, if I'm having a nightmare, Nick can comfort me when it happens. Yeah. He'd hold me close to him, rap his soft, warm tail around my body- SWEET CHEESE AND CRACKERS STOP! YOU'LL MAKE IT EVEN MORE AWKWARD THAN IT ALREADY IS BY THINKING THAT YOU DUMB BUNNY!"_

Judy pushed these thoughts to the back of her head and suppressed her blush as she started speaking.

"Ah... we could be ...clothed while we sleep."

Nick felt the weight on his shoulders lighten tremendously. "Great! I mean, that you feel alright about doing this. Right?"

"Yeah, definitely," said a little to eagerly.

"Great, we'll sleep together as soon as Tim moves in then!"

"Actually," Judy interjected, "could we... do that tonight? I don't want to be alone tonight."

Nick thanked god for giving foxes red fur, because he was sure it helped hide his blush.

"Yeah," Nick snapped out of it, regaining his 'mask'.

"You know," Nick said with a sly grin, "your basically asking a ravenous, 'wild' fox to stay at a poor, innocent rabbits home right?"

Judy giggled at his fox friend when he made a pun about his last name.

"I'm not worried," she said as she pulled Nick into a hug, "I know that you would never hurt me."

Nick hesitated.

"Besides," the bunny continued, "you're my best friend."

Nick's emotions were a mix of fluffiness and gratefulness. Never in his life, has he met a prey mammal, a bunny for that matter, not judge him by stereotypical foxes or by the fact he was a fox and a predator, but by who he was as a mammal. He never made a friend that could mean so much to him, but there he was, in a sweet embrace with a bunny. Yes, there was Finnic, but he was also a fox like Nick, so it was easy to relate to each other's treatments just for being foxes. Another thing was that he was feeling something for her. Like she meant the whole world to Nick.

Then, like a bolt of lightning, it struck him.

"_Is this what love feels like?_" Nick questioned himself.

When Nick snapped out of his thoughts realized Judy was still hugging him and rubbing his back. He was very thankful to have sly bunny like her so close to him. He suddenly felt his body's fatigue creep up on him. The fox thought the doe felt the same when he saw her yawning.

The duo were soon lying Judy's bed, still embracing each other, under the covers but fully clothed. Judy was lying on Nicks chest as if he was her mattress. Meanwhile, Nick himself held the doe... -_his_ doe, close to his chest, while he tries to figure out what exactly are his fealings are for his partner in blue.

"_I never thought I'd feel love for someone. A bunny to be specific. To think all this came out of our little run-in with each other at that ice cream parlor that I had hustled. Everything just got complicated after that. First, she blackmailed me into helping her; second, we uncovered a secret operation that Mayor Lionheart was running, and simultaneously finding all 15 missing mammal in the missing mammals case; third, we ALSO expose a prey-supremacist conspiracy group within the government; fourth, Judy convinced me into joining the ZPD; now we have this... '_thing_' between us, or in me at least. Does she even feel the same way for me as I do with her?_" the fox thought.

Suddenly, he felt something rub his shirt. Nick looked down at his chest to find Judy sound asleep, rubbing her cheek against the foxes shirt. With a somber smile, an actual, meaningful smile, he thought to himself, "_You know what? Forget it. I'll just think about it tomorrow. Its not very day you get a bunny all to yourself._"

He simply laid his head back, held Judy close, and soon drifted into a blissful sleep.

**A/N: While Nick was preparing for movie night, Judy was asleep having her nightmare. It wasn't until Nick knocked on her door that she woke from her purgatory. Just wanted to make sure everyone knew that. See ya!**


	5. Ch4 - Sunday morning

_2016, September 4_

_Downtown Zootopia, Packwood flats_

_6:40 AM_

It was the most blissful sleep Judy ever had in her life. No dreams, no nightmares, Just peace and tranquility. When she began to stir, she took note of how much softer and warmer her bed was than it was the other night. At first, she dismissed it, wanting to sleep in a bit more, but then she realized that her "bed" gently rose and fell. On her front, she groggily opened her eyes, to see that she was currently lying atop of Nick while he slept, and that her "blanket" was actually Nicks bushy tail.

...

Judy let it sink in. In short, she had slept the whole night in the embrace of her species worst natural enemy, but didn't do anything to stop it.

...why didn't she do anything to stop it was anybody's guess.

Judy felt flustered and furiously blushed red. "_Calm down Judy_," thought to her self, "_we're JUST friends, and we're STILL friends."_

"_If your still_ friends, _why are you enjoying your cuddle with him?", _a random thought in her head spoke mischievously.

"_THAT'S... I..._"

Judy couldn't counter the thought. She in fact _was_ enjoying it. Feeling Nicks soft, warm tail rap around her smaller body as she snuggled against Nicks chest. It got her thinking.

"_Why am I liking this so much? Granted, it's comfortable and all, but I was sleeping in the same bed with my best friend! That does not just happen! Yeah, I _wanted _Nick to sleep with me, since I was rattled by that nightmare, but I also wanted... _needed _him to be their with me. I've been getting awfully... _weird _anytime I'm alone and without Nick. It feels like when nick is gone and I'm alone, that he took a piece of my heart with him, leaving a hole in my heart._*"

Judy's face blushed red as the truth hit her. _Hard_.

"_Sweet cheese and crackers, am I really in love with my best friend!? Why!? I shouldn't feel this way. I _want _to feel this way! Not that I'm _against _it, but this will be a problem. I mean, my first love is for a fox! The public treats us like local hero's. If they found out about this, who knows what will happen! Not to mention my _parents_ won't approve of this!_"

While Judy was trying to come up with every reason NOT to love Nick, she catches the fox grinning in his sleep. Seeing this, she couldn't deny that she was loving the moment of peace. Just her, and her foxy friend.

Then the silence was disrupted by the sound of Judy's carrot phone playing it's ringtone loudly. Judy then heard Nick start to whine and groan from her carrot phone ringing.

"_Well_," Judy thought bitterly, irritated that her and Nicks moment was ruined, "_there goes having a quiet, Sunday morning_." Judy carefully got off of the foxes chest, dragged herself across the bed to her nightstand, and grabbed her phone, not noticing that the mammal calling was her boss, Chief Bogo. "Hello?", she groggily answered the phone.

"Sorry to interrupt your morning," the Cape buffalo said, "but I'm afraid I'm going to you and Wilde to come to the precinct for an important matter."

Realizing she was needed for work, Judy immediately sat up straight and responded, "What are we needed for sir?"

"I'll explain when you get here. Just be in my office by 8:30, _sharp_." The chief said before the phone line cut off.

Judy sighed as she put her phone back. "Who was that?", Nick groggily asked.

"Bogo. He said we need to be at his by 8:30, so we better get ready," Judy responded.

"_UUUUUUUUGGGGGGGHH_," Nick moaned.

"Nick, he said I had to bring my partner, and you're my partner, so I'm bringing you to the station wether you like it or not."

"Get _another_ partner."

Pause.

"Alright then. I'll get another partner if that's what you want," Judy said sadly.

Nick suddenly realized that what he had said came out wrong.

"No, wait car_RA_-," As Nick tried to get up, his paw slipped over the edge of the bed, making him fall off, hitting the ground back-first.

As Nick groaned from the sudden fall, a mischievous-looking bunny walked up to his side and crouched down.

"So _PARTNER_, are you ready to make the world a better place?" she cheekily asked.

Nick decided to just admit defeat. If he knew Judy enough, he knows that she is a stubborn bunny that won't quit until he gets up. "Alright _sly bunny_, you win."

"That's what I _thought_," she said as her grin grew in width.

"_I'll have to sort these feelings out later_," Judy thought.

_7:42 AM_

As Judy was getting ready for work, she noticed that their was a bowl of popcorn sitting at the table along with an empty dvd case that reads "Avengammals: Endgame". Curious, she asks Nick why they're on the dinner table.

"Oh right!" he exclaimed. "You see, yesterday I noticed you weren't your usual, energetic self. So, I thought maybe we could watch a movie to take your thoughts away from... what happened at the hospital and maybe get you to act less gloomy. But then we ended up... sleeping together."

"_He did this just to cheer me up?_" she asked in her thoughts.

"Oh my gosh Nick," she spoke, her voice barely a whisper, "that's so _sweet_ of you."

"Really?" Nick asked, "because I don't think renting a movie out to cheer up a friend counts as something _nice_."

"It's the thought that counts you _dumb_ fox," said Judy.

"Well, since the movie isn't supposed to returned until tomorrow, what do you say about watching it after we do our thing at work?"

"Yeah, I'd like to!"

_ZPD, Precinct 1_

_8:13 AM_

Another perk of their apartment was that it's a block away from the nearby subway station, which the duo took advantage of. They were soon walking through the doors of the prestigious precinct 1 and walked up to the front counter so they could clock-in. The mammal behind the counter was a rather portly cheetah, who was currently munching a donut with on paw and held a Pawpod* in the other with earbuds in his ears. He was oblivious to Judy and Nicks presence as he hummed to gazelles most popular song yet, "_Try everything_".

"Hmm, wonder what song he's listening to," Nick said jokingly. Judy just rolled her eyes at him.

"Hey, Ben!", Judy greeted loudly so the cheeta could hear her. The cheetah jumped a little as he hurriedly took out his earbuds and stood saluted with a serious expression on his face. His face faded from serious to confused as he looked left and right to see who was talking to him.

"Ahem," Nick cleared his throat.

The tubby cheetah looked down and saw it was just officers Judy and Nick.

"Oh my bad," Clawhauser appologized, "I thought that was the chief that said that."

"Since when did Bogo's voice suddenly sound _feminine_?" Nick joked. He didn't regret saying it but he definitely _did_ regret it after getting an elbow to the stomach from his strong bunny partner.

As Nick was on his knees, clutching his abdomen with of his both arms, Judy asked, "Hey Ben, could you tell the chief we're here to see him?"

"Oh, yeah, sure," said Ben as he grabbed the office phone by his desk, "Just give me one second."

"_Ughh_," Nick moaned.

"Oh don't be such a kit," Judy exclaimed, "besides, I didn't hit you THAT hard."

"You'd be surprised at how _strong_ you bunnies are."

They didn't have to wait long, as Ben hung up on the phone, and said that they could head to the chiefs office on the second floor now. As they went up the stairs, Judy and Nick were speculating why they were ordered to come to the chiefs office, especially since it's the weekend.

_Correction: _Judy wondered why they were ordered to come to the chiefs office, while Nick wondered why bunnies are so strong.

"I wonder why we were called here? Did a new case just emerge," Judy speculated aloud, "and if so, how big is it that we get assigned to it?"

"If you ask me, I think the better question is why you bunnies are so strong," Nick sarcastically responded.

"I'm serious Nick. This could be the first case we've gotten in _weeks_!"

"Alright, alright, I'll act serious IF this is a case."

"_Plus_, Nick thought, _this could help get her mind off... Tim, I think his name was_?"

When bunny and fox have finally made it to the chiefs office door, Judy could hear bits and parts of a muffled discussion on the other side of the door. Nick could hear it as well but couldn't hear any words. Rather than eavesdrop on Bogo, Judy went up to the door and knocked 4 times.

"Enter," she heard her boss say.

As soon as she heard it, she was already jumping up to reach the door handle and turn it. But before Judy and her partner could go to the 2 chairs, that sat in front of Bogos desk, they noticed there were 2 other mammals on the right side of the room, sitting on a bench. One was an antelope wearing a sweater with a brown vest over it and wore a necklace that bored a cross. The other was... Tim. He had a white shirt on and wore grey sweatpants. He also had some bandages on his left arm and his left cheek that looked like they were just changed. As soon as he saw the officers from the other day, his chocolate brown eyes widened in surprise. But his surprise left as quickly as it appeared and changed into a blank expression. Judy's and Nick's minds whirled. Why was the kid here? And who was the antelope?

"Um, you wanted to see us chief?" Judy asked the chief.

"Yes," he responded, "have a seat."

The small officers took their seats in front of Bogo's desk.

"Now," Bogo began, "I'm sure you remember the accident those robbers had during that car chase, since you were the ones who gave your testimony on what happened."

"Yes sir," Nick answered when Judy didn't. He briefly glanced at his partner and saw a faint shine in her amethyst eyes. "_She must be trying to keep it together and remain professional_," Nick thought. He wasn't sure if Bogo noticed, but if he did, he remained silent about it.

"Then I'm sure officer Hopps remembers giving first aid to Tim Zoloman and made sure couldn't bleed out. Correct?"

"Y-yessir," Judy stuttered. Nick could tell that Bogo _DEFINITELY_ knew there was something wrong with Judy from the way his left eyebrow raised before it quickly fell back.

"Well, what was SUPPOSED to happen," the Cape buffalo began with a slight edge in his tone, " was that young Zoloman was to make a full recovery and was to be sent to the orphanage in the Meadowlands district. But, it appears that from what I'm told by it's superintendent, that the orphanage is currently overcrowded and that it needs to make room, and by that, I mean the superintendent wants Nick Wilde to house Tim at his apartment, until space is made available at the orphanage so they can take him in."

After Mayor Bellwether was arrested for "conspiring against the citizens of Zootopia", including her assistant mayor for being suspected for being apart of the conspiracy, a new mayor was elected by the city council to fill in the power vacuum left behind. The new mayor, Daniel Jellystone, was actually a pretty decent mayor, and even though he was a bear, there wasn't a lot of mammals protesting against him. Probably because they became distrustful of the government, but they couldn't really get dirt on him. One of his acts that prevented this was his decrement that he would provide homes for homeless and would give them jobs to work in, but it was mostly labor or construction work. This ended up being starting to becoming a problem for some of the Zootopian orphanages. As it turns out, at least 60% of the homeless population in Zootopia was under the age of 17 years and younger, making orphanages overcrowded.

Nick was going to ask why he was to look after Tim and not anyone else, when he realized why it had to be him. Even though the prejudice against predators wasn't as prominent as it was during the Bellwether conspiracy, some mammals still weren't very trusting of predators, _ESPECIALLY_ foxes. It only made sense to pair a 12-year old fox with another fox that was financially successful and had (_almost_) no criminal record. But there's only one problem.

That fox only had two beds, both of which are already owned by him and his roommate. What was strange is why did Chief Bogo mention Nick and not Judy? He knew about them being roommates, so why did he leave her out? Nick decided to just play along.

"Sure thing," he acted cunningly, "I'll take good care of him."

"This is all good and all," the antelope spoke up, now talking to the chief, "but why did you ask bring his partner with him?"

"Mr Antonilope," the chief said, "with I'll do respect, I wanted Hopps here to discuss who she can work with until Officer Wilde can can come to work again."

Judy's ears stood up on end.

"Wait," she said, "does this mean that Nick has to stay at his place?"

"Well," Mr Antonilope began, "you see, Officer Hopps, young Tim here has... _special needs_."

"If I could just say that-," the young Tod spoke up.

"Not now Tom, the grownups are talking right now," the antelope cut off Tim.

Tim silenced himself and crossed his arms.

"Now as I was saying before, Tim has these... _special needs_," Mr Antonilope said as Tim's eyes rolled, "that limit his capabilities take care of himself, so he'll needs someone to watch him 24-7."

"Now excuse me Mr Antonilope," the chief interrupted, "but if you're done talking to me, could discuss this outside with Wilde? I need to talk to one of my officers, if you don't mind."

"Of coarse," Mr Antonilope responded, " Come along Tom."

"My name is _Tim_," Tim grumbled.

"That's what I said."

As Nick, Mr Antonilope, and Tim made their way out of the office, the young tod got one last look at Judy before continuing out the door. When it was just Judy and the chief, she took the opportunity to ask the chief something.

"Chief Bogo, sir, does Mr Antonilope know that me and Nick are roommates?"

The chief snorted before answering. "Of course he doesn't. I left that detail out so he didn't suspect anything that may be going between you two. I wanted you to come with Wilde so you can figure out who stays at home and who comes to work. As for WHY I didn't tell the superintendent this because he was very... picky on what Officer he wanted Mr Zolomond assigned to. If I were you, it be in my best interest to not be seen with Wilde when you head back to your home. Am I clear?"

"Absolutely sir," Judy saluted.

"Good."

When the superintendent, Tim, and Nick exited the office, the antelope took the time to explain Tim's needs, habits, and what he can or can't do. But something that stuck out for Nick was Tim's reactions to what the antelope said when they were sill in Bogo's office. Judging by the young tod's reaction, Nick wondered if Tim didn't like being neglected. It would explain why he rolled his eyes at Mr Antonilope when he said that Tim has "special needs". Not to mention he misplaced his name.

Nick's mind went back to reality.

"...and whatever you do, don't let him look at a screen. His mind tends to wander off whenever he looks at one," Nick heard the superintendent say.

"Isn't that the point of-," Tim spoke.

"Ti-im, what did I say earlier?"

"*_huff_* ...don't interrupt."

"Actually," Nick spoke up, "He kind of makes a good point. Why NOT let him watch TV?"

The antelope glared at Nick's question. "Because his brain will turn into mush faster than a normal mammals would. Now, I will be checking in on your home in 2 days to see how Tom is doing."

"I think you mean _Tim_ and not _Tom_?"

The antelope glared harder.

"_RIGHT_. I'll be seeing to your home and as soon as you arrive, we will part ways."

Nicks ears shot up. "Wait, your coming with us?"

"Of coarse I am! I need to make sure that To-... _Tim_... will be in safe paws while he stays there for the time being."

"Ok, can I at least talk to my partner about this?"

"*_sigh_* Fine. But let's make this quick."

Nick was about to open the door to Bogo's office, when door opened for him to reveal Judy hanging on the door handle.

"Oh, hey!" They greeted in unison. They giggled a little before Judy came down to talk.

"Bogo needs me to do some paperwork on who's going to be my partner until you get back."

She winked.

"So," she continued, "I'm going to be here for awhile. Maybe later we can hang out?"

She winked again.

Nick knew this was code; that she would stay for awhile and meet up with him later. It was something that they had developed while working with each other.

"Sure," Nick acted, "Does 11:30 sound ok?"

"Yeah, but don't bother the little one too much!" Judy kidded.

"Hey," Nick complained, "I'll have you know, that I'm great with children."

"I'm 12-and-a-half so I'm almost a teen," Tim butted in.

"*_Ahem_*," Mr Antonilope coughed.

"_Don't_ _worry_," Nick said playfully, "I'm coming. I'll see you later fluff!"

"Bye Nick, bye Tim," the bunny said as she waved.

_Pawpod* - Zootopia version of the iPod _


	6. Ch5 - Fox Talk

_2016, September 4_

_Downtown Zootopia, Packwood flats_

_9:32 AM_

After Nick bid Judy goodbye (secretly knowing he'd see her again today once he and Mr Antonilope went their separate ways), he, Tim, and Mr Antonilope, drove to Nicks apartment in the superintendents car. The drive was mostly quiet, save the directions Nick gave, and the loud traffic they ran into. As they went through it, Nick noticed that Tim's ears would twitch at least every 5 seconds. The twitching stopped as the car gained distance from the traffic. Nick could tell that the noise must have bothered the young tod. As a fox who grew up in the city, he learned to adapt to the chaotic elements the city can introduce and understands how it may be too much to take in. And from the way Tim kept looking out the window at everything that passed by, Nick assumed he may be new to Zootopia. He made a mental note to ask him about how long he has he lived in the city as the rest of the drive went on.

When they arrived at the apartment complex, the foxes jumped out of the car while Mr Antonilope rolled down the window and gave some parting words.

"Alright, I got to go now. Remember, I'm coming back to check up on Tim's stay."

"I'll remember!" said Nick.

And just like that, the antelope drove off, leaving the foxes on the sidewalk.

"Thank you for letting me stay at your place," Tim said suddenly.

"No problem bud," Nick responded, "come on, let's head inside."

"Welcome, to _Motel Wilde_! And please: enjoy your stay here," Nick said dramatically as he and Tim entered the apartment.

"I don't mean to criticize you or anything, but it's kind of... _bland_," Tim said.

"We are sorry for the inconvenience, but we are currently in the middle of renovating the motel."

"Oh I'm sorry! Will uh...-a 5-star review make up for this?", Tim asked with a faint smirk.

Nick chuckled. "_This kid has a good sense of humor. I like that_," Nick thought to himself. "You know what Tim? I think you and I will get along just _fine_."

"_Speaking of getting along, that reminds me_," Nick remembered.

"Hey sport, can I call you sport? Anyways, is it ok if you keep a secret?" Nick asked as he walked over to the couch and sat down.

Tim's ears perked with interest and he sat on the couch with the older fox. "What kind of secret?", he asked.

"Well," he said with a grin, "since you want to know so badly, I happen to have a roommate."

"Wait, really?" Tim said in confusion, "Nobody said you live with a roommate."

"Is that going to be a problem?" Nick asked, masking his slight worry.

"No, it's fine!" Tim blurted reassuringly, "I'm just... confused about why nobody said anything about it."

Nick needed to tread lightly from here. He isn't sure how the young tod will react when he finds out the roommate turns out to be his partner. Then again, if Tim truly cared about how Judy felt when he forgave her the other day, it may be safe to tell him. Nick took a deep breath before he began.

"Well," he said uneasily, "the truth is, Tim, I think that the annoying antelope from earlier didn't know I _had_ a roommate, which was probably for the best because... I don't think he would have liked the fact that I live with my _partner_."

Pause. Nick could feel the silence eat him up inside. Did he do the right thing? Should he have told Tim? Tim's silence didn't really help, but but Nick feared what he'd answer as he held his breath.

"Why would that be a big deal?" Tim broke the silence as he tilted his head to the side in confusion.

The ex-cons ears perked in surprise and felt himself breath again.

"_Well_," Nick thought, "_that was unexpected. But it doesn't look like he does have a problem with prey and predators being together_."

Back to the conversation, Nick replied, "Well you see sport, there are some mammals in the world that just... they don't _like_ seeing predators and prey getting along, that rather return to way-back-when, when mammals didn't get along because they were either predators or prey, or simply because of their _species'_ stereotype."

"But why _can't_ they get along though? We're all mammals right?" Tim asked naively.

"_Oh no_," Nick thought, "_He's just like me when I was..._ young."

The bitter memory was still fresh in his mind. He had never forgotten... _that day._ The day reality tore his dreams to pieces. Where who Nick thought who were his comrades... showed their _true colors_. Nick shook the thought away.

"That's the thing," Nick said slowly, "some mammals just... don't like how things are right now. I mean—... have you ever heard of Dawn Bellwether before?"

"I've heard something that come up before about that name, but I don't remember what it was. Why?"

"Do you know what happened with her?"

"No, what's it about?"

Nick proceeded to tell Tim everything he needed to know about the Bellwether conspiracy and how it nearly pushed the city onto the brink of civil war, how there was so much fear about your predator neighbor turning 'savage', and how Nick and Judy managed to solve the case. Although some _details_ were left out.

Tim's face at the end of it all told Nick that he was stunned from it all.

"That's crazy!" the tod finally said, "And you and Ms hopps did all of this by _yourselves!?_"

"Yep. Every last bit of it is 100 percent _truth_," Nick responded with his signature smirk.

"But my point is Tim," Nick back to being serious, "there are preys out there, in the world, that just don't like predators. That... _especially_... includes us foxes."

"That's... _horrible_," Tim said distantly with his ears pressed against the back of his skull.

"I know," Nick said with a heavy heart, "but if you don't mind me asking, was there... anything your parents told you to do when you're around other mammals?"

Tim paused to think.

"'If you laugh or smile, make sure you don't show your teeth', and 'don't growl if you're angry.'"

"That's good. Do you know why they told you to do that?"

"My dad said that I shouldn't be afraid to show my teeth but my mom says otherwise."

"_Wait, what?_" Nick thought surprised, "_why would his dad say that? Was his dad ignorant of what could happen? ...No. His dad would surely KNOW what prejudice against foxes was like! Especially since he was an adult! But then that could mean..._"

"If you don't mind me asking," Tim interrupted Nicks thoughts, "is Ms Hopps doing okay? It looked like there was something bugging her."

"Yeah, she's doing fine," Nick lied. When he was still a con-artist, he went by some moral rules. One of those rules was to not scam or lie children. He really didn't want to lie to the young tod, but given that he cared to know how the bunny faired after their 'visit' to Zootopia General, Nick didn't want Tim to worry about her. As for Tim's father, that will have to wait. Nick didn't want to pressure the young tod if the father really was bad.

Suddenly, Nick got an idea to smooth things over. A _sly_ idea. Nick got a _sly_, and _devious _idea.

"Speaking of Hopps," Nick said with a seemingly innocent grin, " since your _teeeechnically_ staying at my partners place, why don't you cut it off with the 'Ms Hopps', and just call her... _fluff_."

"Fluff? Why that?"

"It's what her friends call her."

Literally as Nick says this, both of the foxes ears twitch as the sound of a jimmying doorknob reach their ears. "_Speak of the devil_," Nick thought.

And low and behold, it was the bunny. She stepped through the doorway and closed the door behind her. It took the doe a moment to acknowledge that Tim and Nick were in the room with her.

"Nick, did you-," she started.

"Don't worry Carr-_Judy_," Nick caught himself, "I told him we were roommates."

"Oh good," she said in relief.

Nick could tell Judy still felt uneasy by reading her body language. Her ears drooped to either side, her eyes looked somewhere else. Nick sighed.

"_The only way you'll get over this is if you talk to him carrots_," Nick thought.

Then, Nick got a lightbulb in his head.

"_She's going to have my tail after this_," Nick thought.

"Hey Tim," Nick asked the younger fox, "do you want something to drink?"

"Yes please," Tim responded.

"Right away good sir," Nick said playfully mimicking a British accent. As innocently as he could, he walked by Judy and whispered "I'll be in the kitchen if you need me," in her long ear without looking at her directly. Then, he exited the living room, ignoring Judy's babbling as he did so.


	7. Ch6 - Girl Talk

_ZPD, Precinct 1_

_8:32 AM_

As Nick, Tim, and the superintendent left the building, Judy was left in the halls, pondering what to do next.

"_Since I can't be seen with Nick at the apartment, I guess I could stay here at the precinct for awhile, until I think it's safe to head back to the apartment_," Judy thought, "_Maybe while I'm here I can think about this... _thing_... I have with Nick._"

Judy decided that she should head to her cubicle and think about it there. The cubicle she worked in was rather different than her fellow officers cubicles. It was rather small, much like the officers that worked in it, so that there would be no workplace errors while they do their job. Well actually, it was supposed to be a cubicle designed specifically for an elephant, but it was retrofitted to serve as a cubicle for 2, much smaller animals, like Judy and her quick-witted partner. The cubicle even had 2 chairs specifically designed to accommodate smaller mammals, which was perfect for the bunny and fox duo.

Judy managed to hop onto her chair and into her space of the elephant-sized cubicle, which was laden with notes, and 3 photos that were framed. The first picture was of her and her parents. Judy's face in the picture showed that she was brimming with optimism, almost as much as she was showing in the second picture, which featured her graduation from the police academy as a Valedictorian of her class. The third picture, however, didn't show her as optimistic, but instead, was actually pride for Nick as he also managed to achieve _Valedictorian_ in his class.

The Bunny smiled at the memory. It only seemed like yesterday that Nick graduated from the academy and came to work for the ZPD's precinct 1, for his day of police duty. It was also the first day that the bunny and her new partner discovered Bogo DID, in fact, have a sense of humor, even though it was sort of odd. _Suddenly_, she remembered something that Nick said that day, as well as what he said on Friday.

"_You know you love me_," he said.

Even though Judy knew he said that to be funny with her, she couldn't help but blush at the irony in his words.

"_Okay_," Judy thought to herself, "_let's rethink this Judy. You want to be sure you're not panicking over nothing or not. Let's see, I've been feeling clingy as of late, but that might be because we're roommates and that he was my first, REAL friend I made since I moved to Zootopia. Then again, why _didn't _I try to get off him when I woke up this morning? Did I... did I really ENJOY it? Oh carrot sticks, I think I DID like it! No, no, no, that doesn't mean you LOVE Nick for it. Yeah! Just because I liked him for doing something nice for me, doesn't mean I love him for it! Then again, there was last night, when he tried his way to cheer me up, and then he suggested he and I visit Tim so he could help me get over my pity for-... Oh GODS. I really AM in love with him!_"

"Hey there Hopps," a feminine voice greeted the bunny.

Judy lightly gasped and spun her head around in surprise. The mammal talking to her was fellow officer Fangmeyer with a mug of joe in her paws.

"Oh I'm sorry, I thought you could hear my pawsteps," the tiger apologized.

"No, it's okay. I was just... _thinking_ about something...," the smaller cop trailed off.

"Like what?" the tiger asked as she raised her brow.

"_Ohhhh_, nothing _too_ bad," the doe tried to lie.

The Tiger snorted. "I take it that it's _really _bad if your seriously lying about it."

Judy's jaw hung open in surprise.

"C'mon Judy, I've been around enough women to know when some girl's lying and by the gods, you're _terrible _at it," Fangmeyer said before pulling up a seat for herself, "so tell me, what's bothering you?"

"I... don't want to _talk_ about it," the bunny pouted.

"Hey, maybe I can help you _somehow_. But I can't do that if you don't tell me what's wrong."

Judy considered her options. If she confessed to Fangmeyer that she is in love with a... -_her _fox, she could help her figure out how to handle this. After all, this feeling, this love for another mammal, was new to her. She had never _experienced_ love up until now. But then on the other paw, there comes the risk of this getting out, which can inevitably lead to her getting _fired_ from the from the force. It was against the rules to date another mammal if they were in the same workplace as the other. If she doesn't tell, however, her secret will be safe, but she will have to figure out all this on her _own_.

She made a hard decision and took a deep breath before speaking.

"Can you promise not to tell _anyone_ about this?" the doe feebly asked.

"I promise not to tell a soul," the tiger promised.

"Okay, here goes nothing... I think... I..."

She hard trouble getting the words out of her mouth.

Her face turned red. "I think I'm in love with... *_gulp_*... with _Wilde_."

"Oh. _OH_. I guess I now know why you wanted me to keep this a secret."

"You can't tell ANYONE about this. You _swore_!"

"Okay! You're right, I promised, but _Bogo_ isn't going to be happy when he catches wind of it."

"I know! I was trying to figure out if I actually love him or not when you came up to me. I wanted to be sure that it wasn't just a _phase_ or whatever, since it matters for my job."

"Well, if I can ask, when _did _you start to feel something for him?"

Judy thought for a moment. "I guess... it was when I was in the rainforest district when I was still working on the missing mammals case. After Nick saved me from getting my badge taken away, I was glad but... maybe I felt _something_ _else_."

"And... _do _you feel something towards him?"

A pause.

Judy looked down with her ears behind her head and nodded shyly.

"Do you know how he feels about you?"

"No. The only thing I know is just that he's my first love," Judy said before clasping her paws over her muzzle.

"Oooh boy, quite a rock and a hard place you're in Hopps."

"That's why I was trying to figure my feelings for him! Since I love him, that means my _job_ could be at stake!"

"I don't know about you... but maybe there's a chance that you and Wilde will KEEP your badges, even _if_ Bogo finds out."

Judy's ears shot up. "What do you _mean_?"

"_Think_ about it; you and Nick are one of the best officers precinct 1 has ever had, and you managed to solve 2 MAJOR cases by yourselves from almost nothing! Bogo should be considering you two as _assets _to the ZPD at this point. He would have to have a _thick_ _skull_ to be able to fire both of you."

This stunned the doe officer. Ever since she began working at the precinct, she wasn't exactly treated with respect, save for Benjamin Clawhauser. Everyone there just treated her as if she was the precincts token bunny that got stuck with parking duty. It wasn't even until after she spoke at the press conference that she _finally _got recognition, just not the way she wanted it to be. You see, on the one paw, she got respect from the prey officers, but on the other, she was despised by the predator cops. It wasn't JUST precinct one that she was recognized, it was almost whenever she went out in public and like the precinct, 2 mammal groups had different views on her. One _disliked_ her while the other _congratulates_ her success as if she did the right thing. It was also one of the reasons she wanted to hand over her badge. She didn't want to be praised for a mistake and couldn't bear people reminding her that she was the one who blamed the predators themselves for going savage. Things eventually smoothed over after she stopped bellwether and her associates, but that would take time. In fact, this was the first time one of her predator colleagues said something nice to her.

"Wow," Judy finally managed to say, "I don't know what to say except... thank you."

"Not a problem," Fangmeyer replied, "Officers around here always willing to help each other out, right?"

"Yeah... actually, could I ask something really quick?"

"Sure. What is it?"

Judy anxiously fidgeted with her seat. "Since you've been nice to me, does that mean we're... _good_?"

The tiger officer had a puzzled expression. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, does this mean you don't... _not _like me anymore?"

"What do y-... wait, are you still blaming yourself for that?"

"Maybe," the bunny shyly said.

"Listen, I may not represent _every _predator that lives in Zootopia, but I think it's safe for me to say that you and Wilde cleared our names; that we were never the monsters that caused all the cities problems. It was that rotten sheep that did it, therefore, _yes_, we're all good."

Judy felt her spirits rise from the reassurance Fangmeyer gave her. "Thank you for being open-minded. You don't know how much that means to me."

"Again, not a problem."

_9:15_

After half an hour, Judy made her way to the subway to catch the train to her apartment.

"_I wonder_," Judy thought to herself as she rode the train, "_should I tell Nick about—... no. What would he even say? 'Oh my gosh carrots, have you lost your carrots?' No, he wouldn't... would he? *sigh_*... _you know what, maybe if he doesn't... love me back, I can always see my therapist in Bunnyburrow_."

While growing up, wanting nothing more than to be a cop, Judy's parents assigned her to a childhood therapist to help her get over a dream that Mr and Ms Hopps thought would be impossible. Yeah, it didn't work out, but if there was something that troubled Judy, he would always be there to listen.

30 minutes of going to different stations later, the train finally reached her stop. As she then made her way out of the station, walked down the road and into the apartment complex, she began to worry about Nick's reaction when she confessed that she loved him. The best-casinerio was, "_Hahahaha! That's a good one carrots! Hoo-wee, anyways, what was it you were saying_", but the worse-casinerio was, "_Oh my God carrots! You can't be serious, right!? This is one of those _phases _of yours right_".

"_There would be only one way to find out_," Judy thought anxiously as she walked up the stairwell.

She reached the floor where their apartment was and now walked down the hallway.

She now stood in front of the door to the apartment, reached to put her apartment key into to the door.

Then she paused and took a deep breath before inserting the key into the lock.

She unlocked the door, put the keys into her pocket, opened the door, entered the living room and then turned around to close the door behind her.

She paused again, staring at the door.

"_Here goes nothing_," she thought.

She was about to go to Nicks room to knock on his door, expecting him to be out-cold on the bed, when she noticed Nick was already in the living room with another fox.

It was Tim.

"_Crackers_," Judy mentally cursed herself, "_I completely forgot Nick took Tim home to our apartment! Wait... did he tell Tim that we live together!?"_

"Nick, did you-," she started.

"Don't worry Carr-_Judy_," Nick caught himself, "I told him we were roommates."

"Oh good," she said with relief.

"_That's a relief_," the bunny thought, "_I guess now it'll have to wait until later. But now that Tim's _here_... would he even WANT to be adopted by a bunny?_"

"Hey Tim," Nick suddenly asked the younger fox, "do you want something to drink?"

"Yes please," Tim politely responded.

"Right away good sir," Nick said playfully mimicking a British accent. As innocently as he could, he walked by Judy and whispered "_I'll be in the kitchen if you need me_," in her long ear without looking at her directly.

"_Wait what_," Judy thought surprised.

Judy tried to tell him to stop but all that came out was jiberesh. Eventually, Judy and Tim were the only ones left in the living room.

"_I'm going to kill him_," the furious bunny thought.


	8. Ch7 - Awkward conversing

_9:53 AM_

Tim was happy that he was staying with mammals he knew. He and his parents had actually just moved to Zootopia to buy a home there. But moving to a new home means that there will be people who Tim has never met before. He and his parents were planning to stay at a hotel. In fact, before... _it happened_, his mother and father were fighting over where to stay.

To say the least , he was glad he wasn't staying with some sort of stranger.

The visit from the bunny officer though made things bittersweet for the young tod. Finding out his parents were... _dead_... turned his world upside down. He didn't even get to say _goodbye_.

The only thing that made things better for Tim was knowing that other mammals _cared_ for him. The bunny's actions certainly made that clear, and he definitely didn't expect to see her again after the visit. Yet here he was, sitting on a couch in her own apartment, which he originally thought was the fox officer's apartment. He sat there, bewildered as to why... what was her name? Tim wasn't good at remembering new names. Anyway, Tim was confused as to why the bunny cop was suddenly angry.

"Excuse me? Are-?" Tim blatantly, yet innocently asked.

"_WHAT_!?" the bunny interrupted loudly as she turned around.

Tim had never been afraid mammals smaller than himself, he was rather wary of the larger mammal in the room. To be afraid of something seemingly innocent just yesterday, only to suddenly become imposing... it was a new experience Tim didn't want to feel. But the crazy look in the doe's eyes combined with her paws clutched into a fist made the young tod uncomfortable, so he scooted himself to the end of the couch, away from the furious doe.

The bunny then composed herself.

"Sorry," the bunny cop said apologetically, "it's... been a _long _day."

"But it's not even past noon yet," Tim pointed out.

"Well," the bunny flustered, "it _felt_ like a long day."

"I guess I can understand that. I mean, time can sometimes be a bit hard to keep track without looking at a clock."

"Uh, Yeah."

The doe turned around to look at the kitchen doorway for a moment before going back to sit next to the brown-eyed tod.

"Tim," she started uneasily, "I'm... _sorry_ about your parents."

"I know you were there when the crash happened and I might not know what you saw from your point of view, but I don't think anything could have been done," the tod responded.

"_Still_, I wish it didn't happen in the first place."

After a long pause, Tim slowly hugged the obviously guilty bunny. She was stiffened at the touch at first but then allowed her body to melt into it. As they embraced each other's arm, there was another long pause before the bunny spoke again.

"I didn't expect to see you again after visiting you at the hospital," she said.

"Me-nether miss..." Tim trailed off, "uhh... sorry. I'm not good with names."

She gave a faint smile and pushed away from Tim so she could look at him. "It's fine. I'm officer Hopps, but that's when I'm on-duty, so you can call me Judy."

"Well, thank you for letting me stay here. It's a nice home. Even though it's sort of...-"

"-_spacious_?" Judy finished. "Well, when me and Nick moved in, we didn't exactly have a lot to move into the apartment. It made the whole moving process easier I guess."

"I bet."

Judy tilted her head to the side. "Are you okay? You've been looking a little _fazed_ for a while."

Something Tim does subconsciously, is relaxing all of his muscles in his face and muzzle, even during a conversation, unless he talks. It's not that he does it on purpose, he was just never able to facially show his emotions. He can show his emotions on occasion, but most of the time, he'll only show his emotions unless they are very, _very_, strong.

"I'm always like that," Tim said as if it wasn't a big deal.

"What?" Judy said confused by what he meant.

"I mean, I always look like it," the tod corrected himself.

"That you _look_ like your fazed?"

Tim nodded.

"Ah."

More silence.

"You know," Judy broke the silence, "you don't really _talk_ much."

"Yeah," he blankly said.

"Why though?"

"My mouth can get dry after talking a lot. Plus, I don't really know how to start a conversation with others."

Pause.

"Do you have any... _friends_?" she suddenly said as her ears slowly lowered against the back of her head and she spoke in a tone Tim's mom would make.

Tim paused to think.

"I do have one friend, but she's back in *_Tennessee_."

"Oh good."

Then, the bunny's ears perked up again as her eyes grew wide in realization.

"Hold on a second," she implored, "by saying "_back in Tennessee_", are you saying you've _been_ in Tennessee?"

"Yeah," the tod said immediately, "I moved from there two days ago actually."

"So then you're _new_ to Zootopia then!"

"Uuhh... _yeeeaaaahh_?"

The bunny was suddenly filled with eagerness.

"You have to tell me about it!" she asked giddily

"My mouth is dry though," Tim complained.

"Oh, I'll get that water for you, since my _friend _seems to be taking his time!"

Judy got up from the couch and walked to the kitchen while Tim thought to himself.

"_She's definitely not like any bunnys I've heard of_," he thought.

_*Tennessee is a state/plot of land in the United States_

* * *

_A/N: Sorry this is really late! I've been really busy lately but I'm still not abandoning this story, so don't worry!_


	9. Ch8 - Pushing It

While Judy was talking with Tim, Nick had simply been leaning on the kitchen counter, taking the time to think to himself. To think about last night. To think about Judy. To think about... how he _felt_. Yes, it a nice experience, but he needed to be sure that what had happened was going to be a _one-time_ thing. Something that he wouldn't happen again. Besides, as far as police work goes, intimate relationships and fraternization were forbidden in the workplace. He wanted so desperately to deny it, because, for once in his life that once-smaller fox's dream had came true. He was apart of something big and he helped improve the social status of foxes.

But, no matter how much he fought his emotions, his mind would become clear on something: he was in _love_.

"_I guess I shouldn't blame myself though_," Nick thought, "_I mean, she was the one who got me out of a bottomless rut,_ _helped get my act together and even helped me get my relationship with my mom back together. _Heck, _I didn't even think I'd_ see _her again_! _Aside from all that, she... trusted me with her life_."

The only mammals that he could think would do that would be his mother and _maybe_ Finnic, but no prey he ever met would ever do such a thing for a fox like him, except for Judy. Just the thought of him being worth something in her eyes just made him feel... _fuzzy_ and _warm_ inside. Her personality was naïve, but she was almost always optimistic about things and had a heart bigger than her chest. But it wasn't just her personality that made him like her, it was also the way her lavender eyes poured into his, how _cute_ she was when she wagged her cottontail if she got happy or when she'd rapidly stomp her foot when she got impatient or mad. Nick basically found her _cute_ altogether.

"_I guess it's final_," Nick thought with a shiver of mixed emotions running down his spine, "_I'm in love with a bunny_."

"What was that!?" Judy hissed Nick as she suddenly barged into the kitchen.

"_Oh CRAP_," Nick thought panicking, "_I completely forgot about what I told Tim to call Judy_!"

For context, Nick had been counting on Judy to come home in a _decent_ mood, that way when she reacts to Nick's joke, she would get a laugh out of it, even if it was something personal. But since she was obviously upset... well she'd be _more_ than upset.

"Carrots listen," Nick said frantically, "I honestly have _no idea_ what Tim heard to call you that!"

The doe's once subtle anger softened into confusion as she raised her brow.

"What are you talking about? Tim-" she paused as it hit her.

"_Nick_, _what_ _did_ _you_ do?" Judy skeptically asks.

The silence that followed was deafening for Nick. It felt like he was caught with his paw in the cookie jar. With everything he had, he did his best to stay calm and collected when he spoke.

"Listen," Nick began, "I didn't realize that you were coming home in a bad mood, sooooo... I may or may not... have told Tim... to call you... ffffffffffffffff_fluff_. But you have to _understand_ that it was supposed to be a joke and I didn't mean for it to make you _upset_!"

Nick mentally prepared himself for a punch in the gut or an intense lecture from Judy, but it never came.

Judy just sighed before pointing at him. "You didn't tell him to call me the *_c-word_, did you?"

"No of _course not_! I knew not tell him that!"

"Just making sure. Anyways, that wasn't why I came in here," she said as her paw fell to her side.

"You wanted to know why I left you in there?" Nick asked.

"What _else_?" the doe asked sarcastically.

"**_sigh_**Look, I thought you needed to talk to Tim so you could pull yourself together, and since I knew that you might brush it off like you're tough, I forced you to talk to him."

"Nick, I appreciate the thought, but I don't need you thinking about what's best for me by doing things like that."

"**_scoff_** Carrots, If you ask me, it kinda seemed to have needed to, since you looked like you dropped your pawpsicle on the _ground_ earlier." Nick countered.

"It wasn't like that!"

"Well why were you _upset_ when we were back at the precinct then?"

Judy just lowered her head and ears but it was all Nick needed.

"Do you feel _better_ now that you've talked to him?" Nick asked.

"... yeah."

The two just stood there in silence for a while before the bunny spoke again.

"You know," she began, " I would have liked it a little bit if you had just _told_ me. I mean, we trust each other on the force, so I'd tell you about these things when they come up. Don't you _trust me_?"

"_Don't you trust me_?"

Those words echoed in the foxes mind. He absolutely _did_ trust her. He's just not used to pushing others in the right direction, especially since the mammal in question happened to be Judy. So, he did what he could think of off the top of his head. Since he knew Judy was a bit stubborn, he thought the best course of action was to force her into talking to Tim, by getting the two of them alone together. Yes, it worked, but Nick failed to realize that Judy was also a mammal that deserved a _say_ in the matter.

Taking in a deep breath, Nick responded.

"Of _course_ I trust you Judy," he said, "I'll tell you what, from now on, I'll pitch out my thoughts at you so we can decide on something together, as _partners_."

Judy smiled. "Thanks slick."

"Although, I couldn't help but _notice_ that you used my trust in you against me. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're _copying_ me."

"_Dumb _fox," Judy giggled.

"_Sly _bunny," Nick chuckled.

For what felt like hours, they stood in place, looking into each other's jeweled eyes. But the moment was cut short as they suddenly back away from each other in awkwardness and looked away from each other.

Judy broke the silence.

"_Soooo_ how long is Tim staying for?" she sheepishly asked.

"Hmmmm... If my memory's correct, which it always is, the social worker said that he'd check up on Tim in two days, but he didn't say how _long_ he's staying here. My guess is that he isn't _sure_ on how long he's going to stay here, so he's leaving him with us until he can get an _estimate_ on how long he'll be living with us."

Judy's ears perked up. "Wait a minute, you're saying the social worker's coming to our apartment in _two days_? At what _time_ though?"

Nick shrugged. "He never said."

The bunny sighed. "Well, I guess it won't be too much of an issue since I'll on duty when that happens, but what if he decides to barge into my room though? He isn't supposed to know we live together!"

"Then we'll put it all in a closet or hide it in a cupboard or under my bed," Nick followed up.

Judy opened her mouth to say say something but closed it at the last second.

Nick raised a brow at her. "_C'mon_ fluff, spit it out. You don't have to say nothing."

Judy gulped. " ...I was going _say_," she began as a blush became increasingly visible as she talked, "...since Tim's _already_ spending the night with us... maybe we could sleep in the same bed again?"

Once again, Nick was thankful for having reddish fur to help hide his blushes, but he swiftly suppressed it and tried to get out of the spotlight.

"You know," he flirted with a grin, "for a bunny trying to break _stereotypes_, it seems like you weren't kidding when you said, quote-unquote, '_we are good at multiplying_'."

Now usually, whenever Nick felt his 'walls', mental fortifications that he made to keep himself from feeling vulnerable to being emotionally hurt, he would often divert attention away from himself and onto somebody else with some witty words. And this would usually work.

_Usually_.

After a moment Judy finally spoke.

"Are you actually trying to be _funny_ with me slick... or are you trying to _wiggle_ your way out?" she asked.


	10. Ch9 - Eavesdrop

**A/N: I just needed to post something so people know that this story is still relevant. :P**

* * *

For as long as Judy could remember, Nick had almost always been a bit of a "wild card". Even after giving up the life of a con artist, he still maintained a crafty mind that made it hard to _read_. However, through working with him on-duty and living with him for the past couple of weeks, she seemed to have managed to understand his foxy nature.

Judy picked up that if a matter came up that Nick didn't want to discuss, he'd try to come with some witty comment or remark to, purposely, go off-topic. For example, a little while after he became the doe's partner, when Judy tried to talk to Nick about how his relationship with his mother was, he'd often say something to avoid the subject. It worked for a while, but it was only a while later that the doe started to catch on to his _trickery_.

And it _hurt_ Judy that Nick would hide things from her.

"Come on Nick," Judy said bitterly, "I've been around you long enough to know if you're hiding something from me. I understand that it can make you feel _uncomfortable_ talking about it, but I still don't like it that you're lying to me."

"Wait," Nick exclaimed, "I'm not lying to you I—"

"Are you _sure_ about that?" she asked inquisitively.

"I... _realize_ that sleeping with me is making you uncomfortable, although I can't help but feel like that there's something else to it. _Is_ there?"

"*_gulp_* ... _ok_," Nick reluctantly said, "You got me." He starts tugging at the collar of his uniform. "There... is something _else_ and... *_sigh_* it's because I _lo_—", Nick was saying before he was interrupted by _another_ in-particular tod.

"—What's going on?" Tim curiously asked. "Are you guys fighting?"

The duo turned to the kitchen entrance to see Tim peeking his head around through the doorway.

"Hold on a minute," said Nick, "how _long_ were you standing there for?"

Tim suddenly looked like he'd seen a ghost and stumbled over his words.

"I-I d-didn't to s-spy on you, I j-just got w-worried a-and-and—"

"_Hey-hey-hey_," Nick said gently as he raised his paws in reassurance, "I'm not mad. Okay? I just want to know what heard. That's all."

Tim stared at the older fox for a moment before answering.

"Uhh, I heard you guys yelling 'what was that', ...something about telling something to somebody, ...and then I couldn't hear what you were saying for a while that so ...I wanted to see what was happening."

Nick and Judy's ears fell back, realizing he could have heard everything from the living room since the beginning.

* * *

**A/N: I realize this chapter is short but... I know I can finish this story, I just lack motivation. I don't know what happened. At the beginning, I would post a chapter every week, even though those chapters had a thousand words to them. Also, the Corona lime didn't kill me, so I'm still alive. I'm taking the same precautions as everybody else (even though I'm actually an introvert), so expect this story to continue.**


	11. Ch10 - Changing Attire

A/N: **Before we get to this story, I feel like I need to address this. I had gotten an anonymou review that I have to say has... a lot of 'choice words'. **

**You see, Im new to this 'community'. So I don't (entirely) know what there is to know when writing a zootopia story. So if you guys say, "Nick getting kicked/elbowed/punched by Judy is 'cliche'", then that's ok, I'll do my best to try something else. But if you give destructive criticism, I'll ignore it entirely.**

**Anyway, here your ASIN.**

* * *

"Oh my gosh," Judy said shamefully, "We're sorry you had to hear all that."

It's not uncommon for Judy to sometimes forget her own strength (sometimes literally). It usually happens when Judy's upset at Nick for making an inappropriate joke, or just upset in general. This is the first time she unrestrained her anger with somebody other than Nick, her family members, or her co-workers to witness it.

"Yeah, sorry about that kiddo," Nick added, also looking guilty.

"So you guys _were_ fighting?" Tim assumed.

"Yeah, but don't worry about it, me and Carr-_Judy_ managed to settle it like adults," Nick replied.

"Yeah," Judy piped up as she glanced at Nick, "we did."

"_I guess I can forgive and forget_," Judy thought.

"So how about this," Judy said to the younger tod, "you stay in the living room and find something to watch on tv, I'll get you your water, then after that you watch something while me and Nick change out of our uniforms. Does that good Tim?"

"Ok," the young fox responded.

When Tim exited the kitchen, Judy was already getting a glass of out of the cabinet. After that, she then went to the sink to fill the glass. As the glass was being filled she turned her head to Nick to say that he could go ahead change, only to notice that he's not there anymore.

"_Must have already left_," Judy surmised.

When Judy entered the living room, Tim's water in-paw, she found the young tod holding the tv remote, watching a cartoon. On the screen there was a red cargo truck that turned into a robot of some sort, took out some sort of futuristic weapon, and started blasting other menacing-looking robots.

"Hey Tim," Judy announced, "I got you your water."

Tim just stared at the TV.

"Tim?"

No response.

"_Ti-im_?" Judy spoke again a bit louder.

The tod blinked but that was it.

Judy sighed as she set the glass on the coffee table. She then swiped the remote from the foxes paws and was about to turn of the TV when Judy's sudden action startled him.

"_STOP_!" Tim cried as he fumbled to the floor with his ears folded back and his eyes wide with... _fear_?

"Stop... _what_?" Judy asked hesitantly, surprised from his abrupt outburst.

A brief period of silence followed before the young tod's ears perked as he stood up with his back straight and his paws at his sides.

"I'm sorry about that ma'am. I promise it won't happen again," Tim apologized in a monotone voice, looking straight forward instead of looking directly at Judy (he's a bit taller than her so its more like he's looking at her ears).

Judy was now dumbfounded at how quick Tim's behavior changed from fearful to monotone in less than a _minute_. In her mind, she tried to rationalize why Tim was suddenly polite and monotonous at the same time.

"'_Ma'am_'?" Judy thought puzzled, "_where did that come from? I realize he's trying to apologize but for what_?_ And why is he being so... formal about it. It's more like he was saying that to a boss at work or something... you know what_?_ Forget it. He's been through a lot. He shouldn't be sorry for anything_."

"What are you sorry for? You don't have to be sorry for anything," she stated.

"Well it's— ...wait, what?" he responded.

"I said: what are you sorry for? You don't have to be sorry for anything. _Ok_?"

The fox's ears swiveled back and forth ever-so slightly, which made Judy believe that cogs must be turning in his head.

"Ok," he finally said.

"Good. I got you your water on the table when you want it. In the meantime, we can just sit here and watch whatever you want until Nick's done."

"Ok."

It was about 5 minutes later when Tim found a show to watch, that Nick entered the living room in a ZPD-themed sweatshirt and sweatpants.

"Hey guys," he said casually, "have you missed me?"

Judy was the first to reply.

"It's only been more than 5 minutes, so actually no."

Nick feigned a shocked gasp.

"How can you say such things?" the ex-con asked dramatically, "Are you telling me that you, Judy Hopps, did not miss his partner? Did you at least miss my charms?"

"I dunno about your charms," the bunny played along, "It's part of what made me not miss you in those 5 minutes."

The fox cop snickered.

"Come on," he said, "we both know that's what you like about me."

"Do I like that about you?" she asked smugly as she suppressed a blush before it could surface, "Yes. Yes I do."

The doe hopped off the couch and turned to face Tim.

"Alright Tim, I'm going to go get changed and maybe when I get back we could—"

A sudden growling sound came from the tikes stomach.

"—uhh, fix up something to eat, hm?"

"Oh, Yes please," Tim said hungrily.


End file.
